Registrar General’s Department updating existing companies’ records

The Registrar General’s Department (RDG) on Tuesday entreated all existing Companies who registered between 1963 to October, 2011 to update their records onto its new electronic database-registrar.

It said companies that were Limited by Shares, limited by Guarantee, Partnerships, External Companies, Business Names and Subsidiary Business Names (SBN), Auditing and Accounting Firms that have not yet updated their records into the Department’s new electronic database e-Registrar to do so by Tuesday April 30, 2019.

The RDG stated in a statement issued and signed by Mrs Jemima M. Oware, the Registrar General and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

According to the statement, all affected entities Directors, Shareholders, Secretaries, and Auditors of companies, all Partners of Partnership, all local Managers of External Companies and all Sole Proprietors of Business Names are to obtain Individual Tax Identification Numbers (TIN).

Information required focuses on the nature of business, current office location, current telephone numbers and ownership of the entities which the department would not have in its database.

The RDG said the unit was currently full, due to the large volume of files of entities that were set up for one-time activity and have never undertaken any business afterwards.

“The department is entreating all entities that have been registered in the past but are not actively doing business, to come and close down the dormant companies, partnerships and business before the stipulated deadline”.

It said the Registrar of Companies would start the process of striking out the names of companies, partnership and businesses that failed to comply with the directive by Monday May 6, 2019.

“A partner is liable for a fine not exceeding twenty-five (25) penalty units for each day during which the default continues: the right of the firm concerned and partners arising out of a contract made during the time that the default continues are not enforceable by action or any legal proceedings”.

The RDG added that Local Managers of external companies were required to pay an annual filing fee $600.00 as well as present group account of parent company.

It said there would be no penalty charges for this category of external companies during this grace period.

It however added that, business name owners are expected to pay GH25.00 as renewal fees for each year that they were in default up to the current year, but were not required to pay any penalty for non-compliance in this regard.

The Department added that those who did not adhere to this were however not required to pay any penalty.

The Department said it was embarking on this exercise to weed out all businesses that were inactive from their database.

It added that, they wanted an accurate, credible, verifiable and accessible database of Businesses for national planning and economic development of the country.